Good starter rifle?

[.280 REM]

My buddies looking for a rifle for his son.. How are those H & R handi rifles for accuracy? The single shot and hammer is a nice safety feature for a kid.. He's a south paw, otherwise he be getting a bolt.. A .243 with a 95 or 100 gr. balistic tip will floor any deer out to 200 yards or more, and won't beat him up, so that's what I think he should get.. Any thoughts?

[levan]

.243 is a great white tail round i prefer a .257 or .270 myself but i am not sure of his age and size by tikka t3 lite are excellent lightwieght rifles that are very well priced if you go to cabelas alot of timesthe have special for money off if you spend so much or if you sign up for a card then you can just cut the card up ..also remington has there recoil management ammo for the .270 in 115 grain it is designed the have 50 percent less recoil it almost feels like you are shooting a load 22 and has the same ballistics out to 200 yds as a 130 grain ballistic tip...also redfield scopes have the same lenses as leupold they are both owned by leupold i spoke with a salesman at a convention also very reasonbly priced

[droptine]

my, two cents would tell you to find him a nice older 308 ammo is cheap, and he will never out grow it or have problem finding shells,

[nchuntin]

Def. with a .308 win. Great guns for close range and long range. Descent recoil and a wide range of bullets to choose from. A great starter gun and if the military snipers trusted them for all those years, then there's got to be something to them...........

[jmangold]

260 rem vary little recoil:thup:

[55project]

I got my daughter the youth model Rem .243, TOO much kick for a kid. She only shoot it once and it's been sitting in the cabinet for many years since.

I always liked my 30-30, small brush gun and great for the Pa woods. Not a bad kick.

If your going to have him close to home, My first choice would be a 20 gauge slug gun. My daughter has the Mossberg with the rifled slug barrel and bird barrel, I use it all the time these days,. I just got my Buck with it this past week.. Drpped him in his tracks. :) Has very Little kick and Very accurate.

You just have to decide where your going to hunt the most. And the slug gun he could use up-state with no problem. I have used my slug guns more than my rifles up there. They seem to drop them right there. This way no arguement with the next guy 50 yards away on who shot it. Slug holes look very different than rifle.

[Caribou]

Try looking looking for a LH bolt gun that he could keep his whole life. 1st guns are special! They are available in Remmington Model 7, Ruger and Savage. Model 7s have been very popular in 7mm-08,308 and 243.My Choice be would 7mm-08 or 308 because you have less chance of be out gunned by your skill level, game ,distance and wind. Fast small bullets aren't always the best for deer and similar larger game.Try going to Gun Broker.com to see what is available new/used.Also check Chuck Hawks articles that are online,he may have written one on this subject. Would also reccommend that if possible you invest in a good -very good scope ,a 40-44mm objective is all that is needed,still gives 5-6 mm exit pupil for low light,mount it with LOW scope rings. Always shoot lots of 22LR,it builds skill and its fun! Happy Hunting! :thup:

[Pagrizz]

My daughter has a Remington 700 LH in 270 she might want to get rid of .She got married and moved to Delaware and does not shot it unless she comes up here.If she sells it the base and rings go with it , but the scope is mine.It has a ram line stock on it now because I had to cut it down to fit her, but she has the stock that came with it.

[The Ridge]

I'm the guy who was looking.
.280 is a buddy

How much ?

[Pagrizz]

I'll she her this weekend and find out what she will take for it.If she does want to sell it I have about 200 rounds loaded for it with 130 gr sierra boattails.Give me a call Sunday at 610-761-8360

[Nitrous SwampRat]

i'd stick with short action cartridges b/c generally the guns are lighter in weight.
as for caliber someone already mentioned it...7mm-08. great round for any deer in the US. not much recoil, good bullet.
if she doesnt mind a little more recoil but much louder...take a look at the 270 WSM. its a beast on paper.

[Tenpointrack]

I would go 243 all the way great caliber for a kid. Very little recoil and plenty of juice for a whitetail.

I can't believe I have actually read in this thread someone say a 243 kicks too hard haha...come on! if so someone isn't holding the rilfe properly.

[ropaque]

Im looking at the Mossberg youth .243 for my son next year. I have a buddy who's son has harvested a nice buck the past 3 years on their land with a 22 .250 he swears by it with the right bullet not sure what grain they use though. :huh:

[Caribou]

A lot has been said about what caliber is best for deer and young shooters. I found that my sons grew very quickly from ages 12-17. As for many of the youth guns ,I found them to be not user friendly, to light with a less than desireable stock shape. The exception is a standard rifle fitted with a shorter stock for smaller individuals.
If one organizes calibers from light-heavy (for deer) 22-250 to 338 win mag. the 243 is a popular round but i'Ve encountered more 25-06 shooters.The middle is crowded . 7mm-08 , 7mm mag. 270, 280, 308, 30-06. Please note that 243, 7mm-08 ,and 308 all use the same cartridge case. The heavies are the 300 mags - 338 .

During my hunting travels from Florida to below Hudson bay i've observrd that,25-06,270,308and 30-06 seemed to be the most popular next were 243,7mm-08, 7mm mag ,280 then the 300mags.

I personly hunt with a 7mmSTW, 308 and 30-06 . I reload , STW ammo is not available if I would need to buy some. So I'm going to bring on a 300 win mag. that ammo is available even in Timbuckto. Lessons that I was schooled in : have enough gun and optics to do a 300 yrd. shot , min.velocity 2700 fps, bullet weight min.120gr (prefer 130 gr min.) Supprise, the 12 pointer of a life time just walked out to a fire break 250 yrds away arcross the valley No time to stalk it. It's windy the sun is way down ,low light. can you make the shot???


Recoil has a lot of myth. The first is that people of small stature cannot handle recoil well. To the contrary smaller individuals tend be moved more easily by a recoilling rifle or shootgun than a large shooter who just tends to absord it. With practice all shooters can learn to manage recoil. Recoil is a function of cartridge selection , rifle weight ,and stock design (striaght higher comb is better) and butt plate. My rifles all have Pachmeyer shotgun descelerator pads on the butt. If you shoot a 300 win mag in a 5 lb. rifle you will be punished. Shoot a 243 or 308 in an 8 lb. rifle recoil is very managable .

Finally ,recoil's bad reputation and the negitive statements of others shooters tend to scare new shooters of how much recoil will hurt. The other thing they think about is that anything that goes boom has got to hurt. To overcome this ,start shootindga 22lr gun,maybe even a 223 RockRiver AR , to get ready to shoot 243-308 ,make it fun !It is not a ritual where a square needle is inserted in thier right arm. Practice mounting the rifle showing them to hold the rifle tight to the shoulder ,explain why ,show the cheek weld making sure they know to keep at least 3 inches back from the scope. (no cut eyebrows needed) . repeat untill ready dry firing every time while making it enjoyable and re-assurring them they are doing it correctly . There is no need to to draw this out . The're ready or the're not.

In reality recoil is not a concern in a hunting situation. Target shooting and sighting in is where recoil can enters the picture. New shooters should start in the off hand position. If a rest is needed use shooting sticks or a forked tree branch. If you and your shooter decide to bench rest shoot ,recoil can be managed as follows: bring additional sand bags or rest system that will allow you to sit up staight as if you're in a high backed chair. This keeps the shoulder and upper torso movable .You should not be hunched over the gun and back stopping it with your shoulder. I also wear a PAST recoil pad for this type of shooting .

With regard to caliber ,my research of ammo trends for hunting reads like the big mags are losing favor. 6.5mm -338have more offerrings ,a move to availablity larger bullets in same caliber, small amounts of decresed or increased velocity in newer cartridges. In short, bigger bullets at good velocity 2700-3200 . The future of the 6.5mms is looking better ,but there has to something better than the 6.5-284.

Teach the young to shoot , hunt ,protect the forests and game and our rights to hunt for many life timesto come.There is nothing more thrilling than seeing your son or daughter with a huge smile and eyes as big as headlights on thier first successfull hunt ! It's a family tradition.:thup:

[Pagrizz]

I'm the guy who was looking.
.280 is a buddy

How much ?Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you .When my grandson found out my daughter was planning on getting rid of the 270 he went through the roof .She still wants to move it so when things smooth down a little I'll check with you to see if you are still looking.

[Pagrizz]

I'm the guy who was looking.
.280 is a buddy

How much ?Are you still interested in my daughters 270LH 700?.She brought it up to me and told me to get out of it what I could.I'm still trying to fiquire what it worth.Remington 700 270 LH with a cut down glass bedded ramline stock and a shotgun recoil pad.Leupold bases and rings.A walnut LH stock and 2 to 3 hundred shells loaded for this gun.